It's My Day!

Father's Day began in our household with a delicious breakfast of eggs Benedict with asparagus, sausage links, lemon blueberry muffins, juice, and cappuccino. I got greeting cards from all four blondes, each card with a wonderful handwritten message of love and adoration. Then I opened gifts. I must say, these ladies have a good memory when it comes to casual comments that I make from time to time about what I might like to have:

Just because I'm the griller extraordinaire of the household. It's got a lot of easy-to-make recipes for all sorts of meats and vegetables.

I have often bemoaned the fact that we do not own grapefruit spoons. A grapefruit spoon, with its serrated edge perfect for removing grapefruit sections, was an often used utensil in our house when I was growing up, but Susan and I just don't see them in the stores. So she ordered a set online!

As soon as I saw someone wearing a dress shirt like this--with the collar and cuffs a different color from that of the shirt itself--I knew that I should have one for my own collection. However, as with the grapefruit spoons, such a shirt was nowhere to be found in local stores. So, again, Susan consulted the Interwebs with success!

I have traveled more in the three years since starting work at the university than I had in the decades of my life before that. We own several suitcases, but in airports I have often envied those who own a "pilot's case"--so easy to tote with its wheels and retractable handle, so easy to stow in the overhead bins. When the girls and I took Susan out for Mother's Day (remember?), we saw these suitcases in a store, and I remarked that such a one would be useful for my own travels. Et voilà!

After gift opening, we phoned my dad . . . and talked with him for two-and-a-half hours!! Lots of catching up and reminiscing. We had leftovers for dinner, and then it was off to church. Today began a week of vacation Bible school. As Sunday school director, Susan's in charge, so she enlisted my help to serve ice cream floats at an ice cream social that preceded the start of activities this afternoon. When the social ended, she and the girls stayed at church for the actual Bible school session (she to run things, they to participate), and I came home to make roast beef and vegetables for supper. Because it's Ice Cream Sunday (remember?), we had sundaes for dessert and hung out together in the family room. Fun day!


(Remember last summer's Bible school program? Well, this year there are separate themes for the preschoolers and for everybody else. The older kids are being led by day camp staff from Badlands Ministries, which sends its staff out to various sites to run daytime camps locally. The theme of their activities this week is "Love to Serve." In a few weeks, many of these same staff members will be seeing all three of our girls again when they attend Bible camp at Badlands Ministries' camp site south of Medora. Our girls loved Bible camp last summer [remember this and this?].

The preschoolers are being led by Susan herself in activities following this theme: "Christmas in June." An explanation: During the school year, the Sunday school classes use weekly materials supplied by the publishers of the curriculum that the church has ordered. However, they never get to use the Christmas-related materials because, at the time that they should be using them, they are instead practicing for the Sunday school Christmas program instead. This year Susan cleverly saved all the unused Christmas-themed curricular materials so that she could use them this summer for vacation Bible school instead. Isn't she thrifty?

To wrap up their week of Bible school, at a church service this upcoming Thursday night, both the "Love to Serve" and the "Christmas in June" kids will share some of what they learn throughout this week.)